Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk.
You are welcome to share this and include in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (ESV)
1For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
Devotional: Discipleship: Incarnating the Good News
Paul had spent less than a year in Thessalonica, a city in ancient Greece. Not only had many Gentiles “turned to God from idols” (1:9) but responsible leaders had arisen in that short period of time (5:12). Suddenly forced to leave, Paul continued to disciple and encourage them by means of this letter. (He undoubtedly never imagined that we would now read it as scripture!)
As Paul addresses these new believers faced by persecution, we discover in his writing principles of true disciple making. Paul rejoices in God’s transformative power at work in the Thessalonians. This was the outcome they—Paul, Silas, and Timothy—had hoped for, not fame, praise, or even self-satisfaction. In spite of—or because of—their own mistreatment and brokenness (2:2), Paul and his companions had dwelt among the people with an attitude of tender care. They had nourished them and nurtured them. Paul asserts: “We were gentle with you like a nursing mother caring for her own children. We were glad to share not only God’s good news with you but also our very lives because we cared for you so much” (2:7b-8 CEB)
Through his imagery of a nursing mother, Paul depicts discipleship as cherishing and loving. This is the Gospel—good news clothed in flesh and blood. Incarnated good news. True, life-changing discipleship happens in a context of love. We share our lives, our very selves, in ways that are inseparably bound up with the good news.
Prayer
God may we cherish those we serve. May we delight to share our lives with them. And may your Good News be incarnate in us, at work with transformative power so that you may be glorified.
Rev Dr Linda Stargel, Academic Dean
Nazarene Theological College